The Government has proposed to offer seven Open Cast Mines of about 25 million tonnes capacity to Mine Developer-cum-Operators (MDOs) by this year end to increase coal production. Bedsides this, 14 blocks for power and 3 for mining have been put on offer recently under Government Dispensation Route and allocation of these blocks will be completed shortly. This was stated by Union Coal Minister Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal while addressing the inaugural session of the ‘National Coal Conference’ organized by the ASSOCHAM here in New Delhi today. He said that some more blocks will be offered to private sector shortly to ensure increased availability of coal in the country.
Full text of Coal Minister’s Speech is as follows:
“We are facing tough challenges in meeting rapidly increasing energy requirements. Coal being the main stay of our energy most of the additional generation capacities are being planned and implemented on the basis of this fuel.
It has been our constant endeavor to step up the Domestic Coal Production in order to meet the growing needs of our economy. During the year 2012-13, the overall production of coal has increased by 17.5 Million Tonnes. Of this increase, close to 16.4 Million Tonnes came from Coal India Ltd. (CIL). CIL has also registered a growth of 1.3% in production, 1.8% in off-take and 7.4% in coal supply to the power sector during April-May 2013.
This increase has been due to the concerted efforts by the coal PSUs, close monitoring and better inter-ministerial co-ordination by officials of Ministry of Coal.
The supplies of coal in the recent times are falling short of projected demand due to domestic production capacity constraints on various accounts and Government is taking all the necessary measures in addressing these issues.
Environmental issues, land acquisition and R&R issues, evacuation constraints and law and order problems in some coalfields are the critical issues in enhancing coal production.
Even captive coal blocks have failed to meet the production targets for the above reasons.
To achieve the projected growth in production a number of new projects are planned to be taken up in PSU coal companies and a number of coal blocks have been allocated to various private and government companies and few more are in the pipe line for allocation. Besides, supplies would also need to be made good through imports.
Keeping in mind the aim of increasing the coal production 7 Open Cast Mines of total capacity of about 25 million tonnes are proposed to be offered to Mine Developer-cum-Operators (MDOs) within this year.
We need to be aggressive in acquiring coal assets outside the country from long term energy security point of view. Efforts made by some companies in private sector in this direction are commendable.
Role of coal producing States is very important in achieving planned production through facilitating the acquisition of land and settling R&R matters besides expediting the process of EC and FC at their end. Coal production provides revenues to the coal producing State Governments through royalty besides providing direct and indirect employment to hundreds of persons and development of economy.
The autonomy extended to the public sector coal companies has also not resulted in the desired growth in production. They need to review their performance internally and evolve appropriate strategies in addressing the current shortage situation. Government is there to help them in policy matters but onus for improving operational issues lies with them.
Technology development is critical in enhancing production. With a view to ensure better production, productivity and safety coal companies need to focus more on modernization and technology development.
Coal evacuation facilities are important in ensuring movement of coal from production centers to consuming centers. Action has been initiated in case of a number of identified critical rails links in potential coalfields with the help of railways but the same needs fast tracking for realizing the projected production from these fields at the earliest.
With a view to adopt international best practice of trading thermal coals and for ensuring consistency in quality of coal supplies Government has introduced GCV based grading and pricing of thermal coals in place of the earlier UHV based system. Emphasis is laid on strengthening the infrastructure for crushing, sizing and processing of coal besides strengthening sampling infrastructure in coalfields. Coal washing is also being focused with a view to improve quality of coal.
Price of coal in India is far below the international coal prices and the same needs to be rationalized for avoiding wastage and in efficient use of the same.
Environmental footprint of coal mining needs to be reduced by adopting international best practices. Proper reclamation of mined out land and creating economic value to the same with a view to hand over the same back to the society is critical for sustaining the coal mining activities in times to come. Similarly, coal usage also needs to be made more environmental friendly through adopting clean coal technologies and improving efficiency levels.
For increased transparency in Coal Block allocation the provisions of MMDR Act have been amended and new set of Rules have been framed for allocating new blocks through competitive bidding. Recently 14 blocks for power and 3 for mining have been put on offer under government dispensation route and allocation of these blocks will be completed shortly. Few more blocks for offer to private sector are in the pipeline.
A draft Bill on Coal Regulatory Authority has been prepared based on the recommendations of various Committees and Experts Groups. A Group of Ministers constituted by the Cabinet has discussed the draft Bill in detail and has forwarded the final draft to the Cabinet for approval. Coal Regulatory Authority will ensure transparency in pricing, quality & supply of coal. It will also have the powers to resolve the disputes between the producers & consumers. I am confident that this draft bill will be approved by the Cabinet very soon.”